This page provides useful information about US market’s history. Find out how different asset classes performed during the last ninety years. Over such a long time period you might want to account for inflation. Note the chart below is interactive. Click on the "Real" button to swich from nominal to real returns. Zoom-in to analyze the period of interest. Select the time series you want to be displayed.
"Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” (Einstein). If you ever wondered why Albert Einstein would have said such a thing, check out how much 1$ invested in 1928 would worth today, both in nominal and real terms. Moreover, the chart below allows you to compare the investment in stocks with less risky asset classes.
The table below summarizes the performance of stocks, corporate bonds and money market instruments over different time periods. Returns are expressed in nominal terms.
Note that in both the following tables stock returns are computed assuming dividens reinvestment.
| Time Period | Average type | S&P 500 | Baa Corporate Bond | US T.Bond | 3-month T.Bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928-2019 | Arithmetic | 11.57% | 7.22% | 5.15% | 3.40% |
| Geometric | 9.71% | 6.96% | 4.88% | 3.35% | |
| 1970-2019 | Arithmetic | 11.89% | 9.46% | 7.39% | 4.64% |
| Geometric | 10.51% | 9.18% | 6.99% | 4.58% | |
| 2010-2019 | Arithmetic | 14.02% | 7.23% | 4.35% | 0.52% |
| Geometric | 13.44% | 7.06% | 4.13% | 0.51% | |
Curios about inflation impact on returns? The next table is similar to the previous one, except that returns are expressed in real terms.
| Time Period | Average type | S&P 500 | Baa Corporate Bond | US T.Bond | 3-month T.Bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928-2019 | Arithmetic | 8.41% | 4.22% | 2.17% | 0.43% |
| Geometric | 6.54% | 3.87% | 1.85% | 0.37% | |
| 1970-2019 | Arithmetic | 6.88% | 4.97% | 2.99% | 0.65% |
| Geometric | 6.30% | 5.01% | 2.91% | 0.59% | |
| 2010-2019 | Arithmetic | 11.80% | 6.41% | 0.67% | -1.15% |
| Geometric | 11.42% | 5.15% | 2.27% | -1.28% | |
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